China has appealed at the World Trade Organization against a ruling that its tariffs on car part imports were inconsistent with established rules, a WTO spokeswoman said on Monday.

"China has appealed," a WTO spokeswoman said just hours before the organization's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) was due to meet to formally adopt the ruling on its auto imports.

"The affair is now in the hands of the DSB," the spokeswoman said, adding that the body will have between 60 and 90 days to come up with a new report.

EU trade commission spokesman Peter Power said Monday that while China had the right to appeal, he was confident the original verdict would stick."China is perfectly within its rights to seek an appeal." he told

China considers auto parts a complete vehicle if they account for 60 percent or more of the value of a final vehicle, and thus subject to higher import tariffs. But the three complainants argued that the Chinese tax measure deters auto-makers from using imported parts to build cars in the country, causing unfair competition.